Re: Is it possible to watch Netflix "watch instantly" under XP's Firefox under Wine?

Not to attack you personally (you seem like a wonderful person), but your argument is so full of uninformed misinformation and supposition-based assertions, that I think it would be instructive (in more general terms than just this debate) to break it down:

Originally Posted by forrestcupp

Well, we could both lecture and debate about what Netflix streaming was "designed for"

Actually we really don't have to do that. There is an objective truth, from Netflix.

Originally Posted by forrestcupp

Unless you happen to work for Netflix, I doubt if either of us truly know.

I'm glad you said "doubt", because as it turns out, this is incorrect. (As you might have guessed!):

I used to work for a Netflix competitor and helped sell it to a (then) major competitor of Netflix. (Both startup and suitor shall remain nameless - otherwise you could discover my true identity [and then physical address etc.] with just a few clicks...this way it would take more determination.) I then followed and still do follow Netflix pretty closely, and have been a member for close to a decade. I've used their streaming service since it arrived four years ago. Although I don't have insider information on Netflix, we don't need any. The relevant information to debunk this is public. So, you don't have to take my industry-informed word for it...

You can read Netlfix' quarterly earnings reports, including future strategic plans for streaming, going back ten years since their IPO.

Netflix publishes several blogs - most interestingly, a general blog and a technical blog. Both include really great insights. In both blogs (not just the technical one), they regularly discuss technical innovations that almost always debut in the Silverlight client first. Perusing this blog should settle this non-debate in your own heart and mind, without taking my word for it.

One reason (of several) that the browser version is the main development focus and testbed, is because: A) It is much easier to code for, and B) It is much much easier to deliver updates for. There is no "update" mechanism required, as there is no installed client application (cached yes installed no). With the browser version, you automatically get whatever version is the latest (or at least whatever flight-testing group you arbitrarily [or not] fall into). The PS3 version, for example, includes a complete (ported and modified) Webkit application (just for Netflix). It must be manually updated. (Or quasi-manual depending on how you look at it.)

And here is the clincher: More people use the browser version for streaming, than almost all other couple-dozen versions combined. Kind of makes sense to make that your focus. Any more questions?

It might be worthwhile to re-read points 4 and especially 5.

Originally Posted by forrestcupp

...just because something is launched a certain way doesn't mean that is what it was designed for.

See #s 4 and 5 above.

This isn't much of a debatable point though, at least semantically. There are a couple dozen devices Netflix runs on. (Even Google Chrome OS.) This assertion boils down to self-evidence: For each platform/device Netflix runs on, of course: "it was designed for" it.

The point remains however, that Mac/PC browser+Silverlight version is the first and primary development target, and is the most common target for new features first.

Assuming Netflix is around for the long-haul, that fact may cease to be true eventually. (I'm sure they foresee the inevitable irrelevancy of the mainstream desktop OS just as well as anyone.) But it doesn't help us to debate "might bes" in this context, in a void of objective fact.

Originally Posted by forrestcupp

I tend to think that it was designed to be watched on TVs through devices

Again, we don't have to guess or "tend to think". The PC browser was the first and primary target, and remains so; that isn't my opinion. (See second section.)

But sure, we can project arbitrarily into the future. In the future, I'm sure Netflix would love to be part of your neural computing implant, streaming any show or movie on-demand, direct to your optic nerve or visual processing center (or maybe more conveniently - just drop it instantly into your short-term memory). Or closer to present-day, I'm sure they'd love to come standard on the firmware of all new TVs.

In either case, that doesn't mean that was what it was "designed for" (to use your terminology) at first, or now, or next week, or next year.

Originally Posted by forrestcupp

Did you notice how quickly they worked to roll out Netflix on game consoles?

It's no coincidence that Windows is the primary desktop target, and the XBox was the first gaming console.

But, game consoles were not the first targets. While this statement isn't a falsifiable assertion, what it *seems* to suggest is at worst false, or at best not necessarily true. (That consoles were first - and/or, are somehow easier ["quickly"].)

Originally Posted by forrestcupp

That's because it's a lot quicker to create software for devices that would support it, and it takes a little longer to get it into embedded stuff.

These so-[you]-called "embedded stuff" were the first non-PC/browser clients, not gaming consoles. There were two or three of them first out of the gate before the XBox 360.

"Embedded stuff", by number of devices, handily outnumber gaming console clients (which might be kind of obvious with a couple dozen clients as there are only so many game consoles).

Linux-like OSes are the most common underlying platform for non-game console devices. One (like me) could argue that Linux-ish devices are easier to develop for than the three highly specific and unique gaming consoles, as there would be a some chunk of code in common among the various Linux devices.

Had you been more specific in what you meant by "embedded stuff" (e.g. ruling out entertainment devices built on small-form general-purpose computing hardware and running tweaked Linux kernels), I might be inclined to agree with this assertion in principle. However, the state of the actual world (e.g. point #1) would still challenge that notion.

Originally Posted by forrestcupp

I can almost guarantee that Netflix streaming was designed to be watched on TVs through TV attached devices, and smart TVs, themselves.

I believe we've established that your "almost guarantee", plus 50 cents, will buy a pack of gum. (I don't find any perverse glee in that, BTW.)

Originally Posted by forrestcupp

I will say that it also comes in handy on my Android tablet while I'm walking on the treadmill.

On this subjective assertion, we agree! (Even though I don't have an Android tablet nor use a treadmill - though I have no objection to either.)

Peace.

Last edited by doublemeat; March 7th, 2012 at 02:48 AM.
Reason: Fixed lost numbering

Re: Is it possible to watch Netflix "watch instantly" under XP's Firefox under Wine?

Wow! That's some post to be posted twice. I got double thrashed! Lol.

Originally Posted by doublemeat

It's no coincidence that Windows is the primary desktop target, and the XBox was the first gaming console.

But, game consoles were not the first targets. While this statement isn't a falsifiable assertion, what it *seems* to suggest is at worst false, or at best not necessarily true. (That consoles were first - and/or, are somehow easier ["quickly"].)

That's not what I was implying at all. What I was implying was that it is much easier to roll out an app for a Wii or 360 than it is to get Netflix Streaming into "embedded stuff" that doesn't already support it, and it takes time to manufacture and build a user base of "embedded stuff" that does support it. By "embedded stuff", contextually, it's obvious that I'm talking about things like DVD/Blu Ray players, smart TVs, and devices like Roku or the WD TV Live.

So with your great big, long argument, you've done a good job of proving that they launched streaming for the PC, that they use that platform as a test bed for new features, and that up until this point, that has been the most used platform for streaming.

What you didn't prove is that when they came up with the concept of Netflix streaming, watching their movies and shows on a PC is what they envisioned. It still just makes sense to me that they created Netflix streaming with a goal of being able to watch those things on a TV, which is where most people watch TV shows and movies in their homes. So I'll add to what I said. Just because something is launched a certain way and they even use that way as a testbed for new features, it doesn't necessarily mean that's how they envisioned the outcome. It takes time and steps to get to your goal. And since you admitted that you never worked for Netflix and you don't have insider information, I guess you probably don't know what their initial goal was any more than I do.

Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You. - Dr. Seuss